Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B)
"Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B)," is the second of a two part case but may also be taught on its own. In May 2013, European Union Trade Commissioner, Karel De Gucht faced a career defining choice. Soon, he would have to announce a decision on the EU's biggest anti-dumping case, initiated by a group of European solar panel makers against Chinese manufacturers. De Gucht was aware that imposing tariffs on Chinese solar companies could set off a wider trade war between two of the world's largest economies. Part B of the case highlights the tensions between the E.U. and China on sale of solar panels, echoing the politically charged solar battles between the U.S. and China in 2012. The negotiated solar trade settlement between the E.U. and China offers insights into the political realities behind industrial policies, action on climate change, and free trade. Case number 2008.0
Swot Analysis of "Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B)" written by Robert Lawrence, Anjani Datla includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Solar Trade facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Policy, Sustainability and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Solar Trade, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Solar Trade operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Solar Trade
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Solar Trade
Strengths Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Solar Trade in Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Solar Trade to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Solar Trade to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Solar Trade in the sector have low bargaining power. Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Solar Trade to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Solar Trade has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Solar Trade to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Solar Trade is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Organizational Resilience of Solar Trade
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Solar Trade does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Solar Trade in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Solar Trade is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management
– Solar Trade is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Solar Trade are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Solar Trade has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Solar Trade has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Weaknesses Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Solar Trade 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Solar Trade has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) HBR case study mentions - Solar Trade takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Solar Trade, firm in the HBR case study Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Solar Trade has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Solar Trade supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Solar Trade vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Solar Trade is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Solar Trade needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Solar Trade to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Solar Trade needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Solar Trade is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B), is just above the industry average. Solar Trade needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Solar Trade has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Solar Trade has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Solar Trade to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) case study. Solar Trade can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Solar Trade can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Solar Trade can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Leadership & Managing People segment.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Solar Trade can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Solar Trade to increase its market reach. Solar Trade will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Solar Trade can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Solar Trade to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Manufacturing automation
– Solar Trade can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Solar Trade can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Solar Trade to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Solar Trade to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Solar Trade has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Solar Trade to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Solar Trade can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Solar Trade can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Solar Trade with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Solar Trade will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B), Solar Trade may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Solar Trade in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Solar Trade is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Solar Trade needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Solar Trade can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) .
Increasing wage structure of Solar Trade
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Solar Trade.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Solar Trade needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Solar Trade in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Solar Trade has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Solar Trade needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B) is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Solar Trade needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
Feel free to connect with us if you need business research.
You can download Excel Template of Case Study Solution & Analysis of Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B)
